Marquetta

You carried the weight on your shoulders alone

Built a safe haven and called it our home

Single Black mother, so fiercely strong

You were the place where I always belong

You held me down when my spirit was heavy

Kept the roof over us, kept the ground steady

Working so hard just to provide

Always my shelter, always my guide

Oh, thank you for keeping our family together

Through the hardest of times and the shifting weather

Marquetta, you’re the rock, you’re the strength that we need

Pouring your soul into every seed

You are the reason we’re standing so tall

The beautiful glue that is holding us all

Four different times when my babies were born

You were right there in the quiet of the morn

You stepped right up, helped me raise three of my own

Showed them the deepest love they've ever known

I still smell the Sunday meals cooking on the stove

A table surrounded by a grandmother's love

Watched two head to college, bags packed for the drive

You gave them the courage to thrive

Oh, thank you for keeping our family together

Through the hardest of times and the shifting weather

Marquetta, you’re the rock, you’re the strength that we need

Pouring your soul into every seed

You are the reason we’re standing so tall

The beautiful glue that is holding us all

You protected our hearts, you guarded our peace

A lifetime of giving that never will cease

I look at the legacy built by your hands

And I finally, truly understand

It takes a rare kind of grace to do what you do

We owe every blessing to you

So thank you for keeping our family together

Through the hardest of times and the shifting weather

Marquetta, you’re the rock, you’re the strength that we need

Pouring your soul into every seed

You are the reason we’re standing so tall

The beautiful glue that is holding us all